This document discusses issues with reproducibility and data availability in scientific research. It notes that published research is merely an advertisement of the underlying scholarship and data, and that data availability declines rapidly as articles age. Several studies are cited showing limited ability to translate preclinical findings to the clinic due to reproducibility issues, and examples of academic fraud are provided that undermine trust in published results without available data. Overall, the document argues for the importance of data availability to verify and build upon published research findings.

1. 1 2

2. 3

4. “a scientific publication is not the
scholarship itself, it is merely
advertising of the scholarship”
Buckheit, J. B., & Donoho, D. L. (1995). WaveLab and Reproducible Research. In
Lecture Notes in Statistics Volume 103 (pp. 55–81). New York: Springer.

5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6355220839/ (CC BY-SA)

6. Pics or it didn’t happen

7. Data or it didn’t happen

8. Mobley A, Linder SK, Braeuer R, Ellis LM, Zwelling L (2013) A Survey on Data Reproducibility in Cancer Research Provides Insights into Our Limited Ability to Translate Findingsfrom the Laboratory
to the Clinic. PLoS ONE 8(5): e63221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063221
Reproducibility
Issues

9. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/diederik-
stapels-audacious-academic-fraud.html

10. http://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-leaderboard/

11. Vines, T. H., Albert, A. Y. K., Andrew, R. L., Débarre, F., Bock, D. G., Franklin, M. T., … Rennison, D. J. (2014). The availability of research data declines rapidly with article age. Current Biology : CB,
24(1), 94–7. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.11.014

12. Article Data Code

13. Article Data Code

14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonedaddy/2791636546/ (CC BY-SA)

15. 3

16. NASA & ESA. Public Domain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanny%27s_Voorwerp#/media/File:Hannys_voorwerp.jpg

17. https://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/4058808950/ Seattle Municipal Archives (CC BY)

18. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/8360667/Millions-of-
surgery-patients-at-risk-in-drug-research-fraud-scandal.html

19. Data or it didn’t happen

23. https://www.flickr.com/photos/chefranden/14239560840/ Randen Pederson (CC BY)

24. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ynse/542370154/ ynse (CC BY-SA)

25. Data or it didn’t happen

26. Image Credits
1. "Carmen M. Reinhart - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011" by World Economic Forum from
Cologny, Switzerland - Carmen M. Reinhart - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011. Licensed under
CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carmen_M._Reinhart_-
_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_2011.jpg#/media/File:Carmen_M._Reinhart_-
_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_2011.jpg
2. "Kenneth Rogoff" by the International Monetary Fund -
http://www.imf.org/external/photo/allphoto.asp?g=40. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia
Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kenneth_Rogoff.jpg#/media/File:Kenneth_Rogoff.jpg
3. "Thomas Herndon headshot" by Thomasherndon - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia
Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Herndon_headshot.jpg#/media/File:Thomas_Herndon_
headshot.jpg

27. Citations
• Congressional Budget Office (August 2,2012). An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years
2012 to 2022. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/43539
• Office of Science and Technology Policy (2014). R&D in the 2015 Budget.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/fy2015rdtables.pdf
• Freedman LP, Cockburn IM, Simcoe TS (2015). The Economics of Reproducibility in Preclinical Research. PLoS
Biol 13(6): e1002165. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002165
• Raloff J (2008). GalaxyZoo’s Blue Mysteries (part i). ScienceNews.
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/galaxy-zoos-blue-mystery-part-i
• Burlass T (September 1, 2013) Hospital Drip Blamed for Deaths Still in Use. The Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/hospital-drip-blamed-for-deaths-still-in-use-20130831-2sxen.html
• Moody G (April 23, 2013) Public Domain Human Genome Project Generated More Research And More
Commercial Activity Than Proprietary Competitor. TechDirt.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130403/09501122561/public-domain-human-genome-project-
generated-more-research-more-commercial-activity-than-proprietary-competitor.shtml